>> you saw the beginning of what hillary clinton will spend the next four years doing after she leaves the state department, campaigning on this issue, young women's rights globally. >> trying to raise the awareness of the potential power of girls. >> and challenge other young people. >> she's hard core, that young lady. >> pray for her. >> "starting point" tomorrow post debate -- easy for me to say. post debate coverage live from danville, kentucky. i'm heading there after the show. cnn newsroom with don lemon begins right now. good morning. >> you know, it happens, especially this early in the morning, soledad. >> more coffee. >> enjoy your trip and safe travels. stories we're watching right now in the newsroom, the thrill in the ville. part two, biden versus ryan in their one and only vice presidential debate. stakes are high for both campaigns. we'll hear from the national co-chair, obama campaign and later a fellow republican representative as well. planning and lots of preparation for a space shuttle.

"endeavour" will make its way through the streets of los angeles early tomorrow. and buzz already building for that big move. and fortune, tech is on top, magazine out with its 40 under 40. the person on top? it's not mark zuckerberg. "newsroom" begins right now. good morning, everyone. i'm don lemon, in for carol today. it is the under card of the title fight, just 12 hours before the bell rings at the vice preside vice presidential debate. sounds like a boxing match, right? paul ryan trying to keep that new republican momentum alive. joe biden faces a formidable foe, in himself, most americans perceive him unfavorably. ryan better in both areas, 44%

favorable compared to 40% unfavorable. >> joe biden has been doing this a long time. he ran for president twice, sitting vice president. he has been on this big stage many times before. that's new for me. i'm just doing my homework, studying the issues. i know how he'll come and attack us. the problem he has is he has barack obama's record he has to run on. >> are you intimidated at all, ba based on the background you just skroibed? >> no, i'm not intimidated. i'm actually excited about it. >> what i've been doing mostly is, quite frankly, studying up on congressman ryan's positions on the issues. and -- and governor romney has embraced at least everything i can see. i don't want to say anything in the debate that's not completely accurate. >> there she is, white house correspondent brianna keilar in

danville, kentucky. bk, people vote for president not vice president. but this one is important, i think, because of the president's showing last time. am i wrong on that? >> reporter: that's exactly what it is, don. this has become more important because president obama had such a lackluster performance last week in denver. what you've seen, and the polls show it, the romney/ryan ticket has momentum. the polls have tightened in recent days following mitt romney's performance, where he obviously won that debate. there's a lot more attention here. if joe biden is able to perform very well -- and he's a pretty good debater. if he's able to perform pretty well perhaps he can stem some of that momentum, at least dampen a little criticism heading into the debate next week in new york, buy the president a little time. if paul ryan clearly dominates in this debate it will be seen very much as a one-two punch and that will just mean more

momentum. >> they've been, as we call it in college, cramming. how have both of them been preparing? >> reporter: yeah. it is like cramming. i think it's sort of like going back, studying for -- one aide told me it's like studying for the s.a.t.s in the middle of a campaign. they go over a lot of briefing materials. they're brushing up on domestic and foreign policy, getting to certainly know each other's positions on everything. there's a lot of sort of time spent aalone where they're reading or talking to aides or their team about it. they also spend a lot of time going over possible moderator questions with their team of aides and coaches and we know both joe biden and paul ryan have done at least half a dozen mock debates each. the difference here, we've seen it more spread out in time because paul ryan, who has been traveling with ted olson, the former solicitor general, who successfully argued bush v. gore in 2000, he has been on the road with ryan here and there ever

since he was picked this summer. joe biden, for his part, he has been sparring with chris van hollan, the top democrat on the house budget committee. joe biden has spent the past four days holed up in wil wilmington, delaware. he has crammed certainly more for the mock debates in the last few days, don. >> goodness. sounds like a lot of work. brianna keilar. >> it is. >> thank you very much. we'll check back in with brianna later. president obama weighing in on the debates both tonight and his lackluster performance. tonight's face-off. he says it's less about the men than their message. >> i think joe just needs to be joe. congressman ryan is a smart and effective speaker. but his ideas are the wrong ones. and joe understands that. >> the president also downplaying his own weak showing

at the first presidential debate. even though the republicans are now riding a surge of new momentum, he says that one debate is not a game changer. >> well, governor romney had a good night. i had a bad night. >> how bad? >> it's not the first time i've had a bad night but i think what's important is the fundame fundamentals of what this race is about haven't changed. >> not so fast, says the romney camp. they say after last week's presidential debate had such a big impact on the race, don't dismiss tonight's face-off. >> these things matter. americans are really tuned into this, especially after last week's debate where the president did a belly flop. people will be tuning in tonight more so than they ever have before. i've known paul for a long, long time. he has always hit the ball out of the park. this is his first time. joe biden has been doing this since the 1800s. he will do a solid job.

so, you know what? they're two different guys. they're two different guys but both very relatable people. they can speak with authent authenticity. >> lot of downplaying there, and some humor. stay with us for more from the obama and romney camps. 9:30 eastern we'll talk to ted strickland, navl ctional co-chaf the obama campaign. and then diane black at 10:30 eastern. capitol hill, former state department security officer in libya tells lawmakers he got no support after asking for more help at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. he was testifying at a congressional hearing, investigating the terrorist attack in libya that killed u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three others. listen to what eric nordstrom

told the oversight committee. >> i was criticized and somehow it was my responsibility to come up with a plan on the ground and not the responsibility for ds. i raised that specific point in a meeting with the ds director in march, that 60 days, there was no plan and it was hope that everything would get better. >> let's go now to foreign affairs reporter elise labott. this was quite a heated hearing. >> it was. basically there was so much political grandstanding, don, it was really hard to get at what was really important that eric nordstrom and lieutenant colonel andy wood, the top security support team official saying, listen, we kept talking to the state department, asking them for resources and we got the feeling that until there was an attack, we weren't going to get any resources. eric nordstrom, finishing that quote you just put up there

saying, look, how thin does the ice have to be before someone falls through? a lot of charges yesterday. but a lot of interesting information coming out. >> i'm sure the state department is responding to these claims of lack of planning. what are they saying? >> they're saying that they thought the consulate had adequate security personnel for the amount of threat that was out there. when they look at some of the other attacks that were out there. what they were saying was we could not have prevented even with additional security, even with more security improvements, we couldn't have prevented the 40 armed gunman that the diplomatic post faced that night. this was an assault that was unprecedented in diplomatic history and they're saying they thought that the consulate was adequately protected. we see those pictures right now. obviously, it was not. >> this hearing, elise, taking place without the secretary of state, hillary clinton. what is her role in this investigation? >> generally, these types of hearings are with officials that were involved and you had

yesterday the top official for management under secretary pat kennedy and also charlene lam, a deputy assistant secretary. she was the one that got all those requests and admitted that she denied them because she felt that they weren't justified. secretary of state clinton has appointed a five-member panel, accountability review board who is going to investigate to an independent investigation and she'll be watching that investigation very closely. >> elise labott, thank you very much. we appreciate it. senior security official at the u.s. embassy in sanaa, yemen, has been killed in a drive-by shooting on his way to work. the victim was a yemeni national employed by the u.s. embassy. the same embassy targeted by protesters last month, by the way, over an anti-muslim film produced by a california man. crews worked hours through the night in florida trying to

get out a worker who had been buried by a collapse in a construction site. they had to amputate both of his legs to get him out. chief justice john roberts repeatedly asked the school's lawyers, quote, what is the critic critical mass of african-americans and hispanics at the university that you are working towards? and what is the logic al end point? justice breyer was wondering why the court was hearing the case when a similar law was upheld by the court in 2003. u.s. jobless claims hit a four-year low. applications for unemployment dropped to the lowest level since february 2008. in sports, lance armstrong now faces the biggest uphill climb of his post-cycling

career, trying to restore his reputation against mounting evidence. u.s. anti-doping agency has released a report of more than 1,000 pages. the agency found lance armstrong was part of the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen. armstrong's attorney, tim herman responded, calling the findings a one-sided hatchet job and government-funded witch hunt. pedro pinto joins us now. his ex-teammates tell some really shocking stories about gaming the drug testing system. tell us what they're saying. >> don, it's unbelievable, this report released really sheds light on the dark world of cycling at the time when lance armstrong won seven straight tour de france titles, talking about hotel rooms being transformed into blood transfusion centers and lance

armstrong freezing his blood to use it later. he still maintains his innocence. according to testimonies from 11 of his former teammates, there's no doubt that drug supplying, drug taking was going on during the years that lance won all these titles in france. and it really paints a picture that is incredibly dark and that shows that they were doing everything possible to beat the system. incredible and sordid details in this report. lot of pages in there. those are some of the most shocking highlights made by some of his former teammates, don. >> interesting. so what happens now to armstr g armstrong? will he be stripped of his tour victories? what career moves can he make, if any? >> that is the big question right now. will his victory stand? that is a decision that has to be made by the international cycling union.

something which will be examining soon. what's crazy here is that lance armstrong is a sports hero. he is a hero off the sporting market as well to so many people, taking into account all the money he has raised for cancer research as part of his livestrong foundation. as far as that part of his career, he'll continue to work with this foundation and do a lot of good work he has done. as far as being a sports hero, i think his reputation is tarnished beyond repair, don. >> pedro pinto, thank you very much. silicon valley is the place to be in fortune's movers and shakers. who has moved to the magazine's 40 under 40 list. start with a simple idea. think. drink coffee. design something totally original. do it again. that's good. call in the engineers. call in the car guys. call in the nerds. build a prototype. mold it. shape it. love it. give it a starting price under 16 grand. take it to the track. tweak. tweak. tweak. stop.

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i would say to politics now, but that's pretty much all we're going to cover until the election day. they backed then senator obama by double digits four years ago. now women voters are evenly split on the president and mitt romney. erasing an 18-point lead that

the president had just last month. maria cardona is in washington, or as i like to call her, mcdmc. republican strategist and cnn contributor in new york is ana navaro there. >> i like what l.c. calls me, the solution. >> that's right. we came up with that. >> can we believe the numbers? how is this going to shape tonight's vice presidential debate if anybody is putting stock in these numbers? >> i think the movement clearly come comes from the bounce that mitt romney enjoyed from his performance last week. the question, is it sustainable? look, there's no question that there was nowhere to go but up for mitt romney. because the gap was so big. the question is going into tonight's debate, will it hold? and that's going to be a big question. and i'm going to say probably not. because mitt romney gave us a

big opening, even just yesterday where he continued to, i would say flip flop but now i think it's flip flop flip on the whole abortion issue. i think you can be sure that biden is going to bring this up in a very aggressive manner in terms of what women have at stake going into this election with a romney/ryan presidency. >> i want you to respond to that but i want to preface it by saying there's been a lot of talk the past 48 hours about what maria says about mitt romn romney's stance on abortion. he told the des moines recommendation ter, quote, no legislation in his agenda deals with abortion, despite saying previously that he would overturn roe v. wade. here is how romney and his running mate responded to charges that the republican changed his position. take a listen. >> i think i said time and again i'm a pro-life candidate, i'll be a pro-life president. the actions i take immediately are to remove funding for planned parenthood. it will be part of my budget and

also i've indicated i'll reverse the mexico city position of the president, reinstate the mexico city policy which keeps us from using foreign aide for abortions overseas. >> our position is unified, consistent and hasn't changed. >> what is your position? >> you'll find -- i'm sure you'll find out as these -- >> were you upset that he said that to the des moines register? >> no, no. no positions have changed. our position is very consistent. >> ana, you heard from both of them. romney has moved to the center, appears to have moved from the center. could it backfire both with his base and perhaps undecideds who don't think he holds sincere beliefs? and even with women, aafter hearing that comment from the des moines register and then saying something that appears to be different. could that change that? >> don, you know i haven't been mitt romney's biggest defender or biggest fan but i don't really see a great inconsistency in what he said and what he has

said. he said he won't be pursuing legislation. i'm glad to hear that. frank frankly the difference between taking executive action or pursuing legislation is a big one. it takes a lot of political capital to get legislation through. i don't think you will get any sort of abortion rights or abortionless legislation through a democrat senate or very close held senate. >> can you more be more specific about why you think that it's not a flip flop? why don't you think this is a big deal? >> because i -- you know, he's saying he's not going to pursue legislation. he's not saying he's not going to be a conservative president when it comes to these issues. he is going to appoint -- what he has said all along is that he is going to appoint anti-abortion federal judges. he's going to take executive action, like not complying -- not being part of the accord that allows for the u.s. to fund

international abortions. he is going to do all those things. the bottom line, don, is that he is more conservative than president obama. and that's the choice. look, i think that anybody who understands politics understands that on both sides -- let's be straight here, do some straight talk. on both sides of the aisle it's very different to be in a primary than in a general election. >> okay. >> we have seen president obama evolve on issues like gay rights. >> right. >> when president obama does it, they call it an evolution. when mitt romney does it, they call it a flip flop. i would tell you that it is very different to be running to win a faction of the republican party than to win the entire country. >> we're almost out of time. i want maria to get in on this. you heard what ana said, maria. she's saying he's going to be a conservative president and appoint judges. this is bound to be part of this debate tonight, don't you think? >> yes, absolutely. that's what actually mitt romney did, is give a big, big opening

to continue the conversation about women's rights, about women's health. because at the end of the day, that's what this is about. and how a romney/ryan ticket would actually want to jump in and make decisions for women when decisions should be made by women and their doctors. that's why a lot of women, at the beginning, were for president obama. after this debate and the next two debates they'll continue to see it was president obama, the one protecting women's rights and women's health. by the way, i will say on the flip flop and evolution, with president obama, it's probably seen as an evolution, first of all, because democrats believe in evolution, but secondly it's one issue. mitt romney has basically been on both sides of almost every single issue that has faced him and his campaign for five years. >> that was a little jab. that was kind of low there, maria. >> i could easily list a number of issues where he has evolved.

>> moderating between two women, tougher. two strong women. >> tell you what, don, we're women and we deserve our right to change our mind. >> thank you, guys. i'm moving on. cnn extensive coverage of tonight's debate begins at 7:00 eastern here on cnn. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you

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a 14-year-old pakistani teen is in critical condition. malala yousufzai was shot in the neck on tuesday. the taliban is claiming responsibility for that shooting. the spokesman for the terror group says if the teen survives, quote, we will certainly kill her. cnn's reza sayah joins us from islama bad. what a horrible story. this case has drawn international attention. what is pakistan and possibly the u.s. doing to keep her safe? >> reporter: well, washington has made statements of support. it's not clear what's happening behind the scenes, if there are any offers to give any medical care or offer any doctors. back here in pakistan, it's the

military that's taking the lead. this is the most powerful institution in the country. they have the best medical facilities, best hospitals. and their focus is to keep her alive. about an hour and a half ago, they transferred her from a hospital in peshawar in northwest pakistan where she was being treated to a hospital in rawalpindi, next to where we are in islamabad. we want to be careful with describing her medical condition. it looks like during the overnight hours she took a turn for the worst. yesterday doctors were saying her condition was satisfactory. now they're saying it's critical with the swelling of the brain. a lot of people are hoping she's going to make it. >> including everyone, except for the people who are clachling responsibility for this. you went to a school, quickly. what are they saying? >> reporter: yeah. well, there's been an outpouring of condemnation and support for this girl.

especially among the youth in pakistan. we've seen schools throughout the country make banners for her, write personal letters, messages. this is a girl that's inspired d the youth here. when they hear her talk and speak out against the taliban, it has inspired them. talking to a lot of people, i can tell you, they share her values. but for one reason or another in the past they haven't had the courage to speak up. when they listen to her and he see her speak out publicly, that's inspired them and that's why they want her to stay alive. they don't want to lose this hero of theirs. >> reza sayah, thank you for your reporting. the countdown is on. in a little less than 12 hours, vice presidential candidates will have their first and only debate. next, we'll hear from the obama campaign about what joe biden has in store for paul ryan.

we need some like boxing music here. they're calling it the thrill in the ville, part two. tonight is the night joe biden and paul ryan face off in danville, kentucky, for the one and only vice presidential debate. let's show you a live look inside the debate hall. there it is. they're gearing up, red, white and blue. lots of red, white and blue and flags. our extensive coverage begins 7:00 pm eastern. it's already starting. we'll be doing this throughout the day. campaigns have already been hard at work for weeks, if not for months for tonight's debate. i want you to take a look at this pew research poll. we show you a lot of polls. not sure if you're observe iingl of this. look at this. paul residen is ahead of joe biden. former democratic governor of the key battleground state of ohio, mr. ted strickland. good morning to you, sir.

>> good morning to you, don. >> let's talk about these polls. they have paul ryan already as the winner. do you agree with these polls? >> not that one, i certainly don't. joe biden, the vice president biden is a great guy. he has a big heart and will tell the truth tonight, which is going to, i think, really expose to the nation the extreme positions of this paul ryan and his budget. a budget that, by the way, governor romney has called a marvelous budget. but, on, it's a budget that will begin the privatization of social security, voucherizing medicare. cutting pell grants, all those things. >> governor, we have a short time together. i just want to stick to the debate and not the talking points when it comes to what they're going to say. let's stick to the question at hand. >> okay. >> i notice you said he's going to be telling the truth tonight. in essence, were you saying last

time that mitt romney was lying? >> well, he was certainly less than honest. and you can use whatever word you want to use to describe that. but mitt romney told things that were absolutely untrue during the first debate and i hope that's exposed tonight. >> okay. so, listen, paul ryan, he isn't listening to those polls. you said your not listening to them as well. you don't believe them. he is downplaying expectations. dana bash sat down with him. listen and then we'll talk about it. >> joe biden has been doing this for a long time. he ran for president twice, he's a sitting vice president. he has been on this big stage many times before. that's new for me. i'm doing my homework. i know how he'll come and attack us. the problem that he has, he has barack obama's record. >> my question is, is this going to be a case where joe biden's experience, i don't know, may be a negative for him? because paul ryan is, you know,

sort of untested. people don't know what he's going to say. people have heard a lot from joe biden before. does paul ryan hold an advantage in that way? is that a possible negative for the vice president? >> absolutely not. don, both of these candidates are on the national stage. they're both experienced politicians. and i think that they both are going to be well prepared. but the issue is, which one of these two candidates can really express to the american people a vision of the future and how we're going to continue to recover from this economy that we've been living through as a result, quite frankly, of policies that paul ryan continues to embrace. >> okay. listen, our very own john king said that americans pick presidents, not vice presidents. how important is this vice presidential debate really? people have said this one is more important because of the president's performance last time. there certainly seems to be more interest in this debate than previous vice presidential

debates. last time there was huge interest with sarah palin and joe biden. there's big interest in this one as well. >> there's a lot of interest, obviously. as there should be. because the vice president -- >> is this more than ever before? this vice presidential debate more important than previous? >> well, i can't imagine a vice presidential debate being more significant than the last one between joe biden and sarah palin. that was an important debate. there is a lot of interest. i will admit there seems to be a greater level of interest in this vice presidential debate than any that i've been aware of in the past. and i hope a lot of people watch. i think they will. and as a result, i think the vice president will really do a fine job and then we'll move on. but, don, everything that happens between now and the next

26 or 27 days is going to be important. because this election is going to be so close. >> yeah. >> and everything is going to have significance that happens. >> governor strickland, thank you so much. when i said not going on and doing talking points, i thank you. we have such a short time together. i just want to make sure we convey to the american people the importance of tonight. so i appreciate you doing that. all right? thank you so much. >> well, thank you, don. you havy great day. >> you, too. coming up next hour, we'll hear from the republican side when we talk to tennessee representative do i an black. how do we get the space shuttle "endeavour" down the streets of los angeles? very carefully. that's what needs to happen tomorrow with the whole world watching. i don't spend money on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car.

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early tomorrow morning, n nasa's last space shuttle mission will take place.

>> zero, and liftoff for the final launch of "endeavour." expanding our knowledge. >> wow, it's been nearly 17 months, can you believe, before "endeavour" made its final flight into space. now the youngest shuttle in the fleet will travel the streets of los angeles to its final resting place. john zarrella will cover it. he will explain there's a lot of excitement surrounding this t p trip. >> reporter: 25 flights, nearly 123 million miles flown, but this final road trip for the space shuttle "endeavour" will be the most unique journey any shuttle has ever taken. here they are calling it mission 26. in the very early morning hours friday, "endeavour," sitting on a transporter, will leave los angeles international airport for a two-day, 12-mile stroll through the streets of l.a. and englewood. final destination, the california science center. "endeavour" will pass by randy's

donut shop. of course they have battered up shuttle donuts. they look just like space shuttle shuttles. >> that's what you need, isn't it? >> pretty neat, like the shuttle sitting inside the hole in the giant donut outside. getting ready is a monumental sometimes controversial undertaking. because the shuttle is so wide, trees along the route had to be trimmed, hundreds cut down. science center promises to replace each one with two. steel plates were placed over weak spots in the road. >> now before they can go any further, they have to take down these light poles. once they do that, they have to cross this bridge over the 405 expressway. how are they going to get across this bridge?

they're going to tow it with a pickup truck. >> gathered near the 405 to wovg out details. the company claims a 20-year relationship with the science center landed them the pr opportunity of a lifetime. >> and the support that it supports they're riding on with a tundra. >> support mechanism is about 270,000 pounds total. toyota tundra. >> they might use the tow for a commercial. you think? more than 1 million people are expected to turn out for an event you can safely say you'll never see again. >> you think? i love that, john zarrella. so john is in los angeles. he will be oversee iing all of this for cnn. first and most important

questions, when do the donuts arrive here in atlanta for us? >> reporter: i've got them on order. they'll be there saturday for your shift. >> all right. so, thank you. moving something this delicate, as the space shuttle, it takes unbelievable planning and detail as you pointed out there in your story. >> yeah. yeah. absolutely. and as you saw, they'll have to actually, at some point, stop for several hours as they change to a different towing mechanism because of different weights that they -- restrictions they have. in fact, the reason they say they're using the toyota to cross that bridge is because of the fact that they needless weight when they go over that bridge. so lots of different variables go into that. you know, don, they had to cut all those trees, as we saw. but even still, there are places along the route where the clearances between the shuttle and poles and things on the sides, just a couple of inches on each side of the wings. >> intricacy.

thank you, john zarrella. see you later. coming up at 0:40 am eastern time, we'll go live to international space station, live to the international space station. we'll talk with astronaut sonny williams about the private cargo ship that arrived there yesterday. live to the space station. ke to drive a jeep grand cherokee, tell them it's like being nestled in an eight-way, adjustable, heated and ventilated seat surrounded by a 500-watt sound system while floating on a suspension made of billowy clouds. or you could just hand them your keys. ♪ ♪

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blaming the victims, calling them liars and also their son, matt, who testified he had been molested. the judge sentenced the former penn state coach to between 40 and 60 years in prison. life-threatening injuries because of the tiny cell where he's serving a four-year sentence. in a letter to the l.a. county sheriff, conrad murray's attorney says he has slow blood flow. he is confined to a 5 by 7 cell. pennsylvania start-up has developed an experimental vaccine that may prevent cervical cancer. the new drug helps to boost the immune systems of women who have human papiloma virus or hpv, that can lead to cervical cancer. testing is expected to continue through at least 2016.

mike rowe here at a ford dealer with a little q&a for fiona. tell me fiona, who's having a big tire event? your ford dealer. who has 11 major brands to choose from? your ford dealer. who's offering a rebate? your ford dealer. who has the low price tire guarantee... affording peace of mind to anyone who might be in the market for a new set of res? your ford dealer. i'm beginning to sense a pattern. buy four select tires, get a $60 rebate. use the ford service credit credit card, get $60 more. that's up to $120. where did you get that sweater vest? your ford dealer.

pay attention, everyone, because these are the movers and shakers that shape your lives. the men and women who revolutionize the the way we do everything from sharing with friends to paying for coffee. and the lucky ones have landed here. that's on fortune's list of 40 under 40. the top 40 under the age of 40, of course. coming in at number three is yahoo!'s ceo marisa meyer. number two slot, mark zuckerberg. topping the list, google ceo and co-founder larry page. top three. joining me, lee gallagher. how is this list put together before we talk about those three specifically. how was the list put together? >> sure. a list of power and influence. these 40 slots represent the

most important, most influential, most powerful people in biz under the age of 40. so a long time ago we did the list as a rich list. the richest people. that was long ago. kniss is purely about power, influence, importance. people changing the world we live in, pulling major levers behind the scenes. really changing the world. >> all right. maya zuckerberg and page, how did you come up with these guys and i noticed zuckerberg is not number one. >> he was number one last year. a bit of a rough year this year. the stock, we all know, hystericen a beating. no malter how you look at it, facebook, the companies over the past 50 years that have changed our live, facebook is right up there. number two. not number one. gave that to larry page. this is really the year at google, also incredibly enormous influential important company that also changed our lives. larry page has been in the ceo spot a little over the year. the year he really started to

put his on stamp on google. cut away layers of management. closed projects that weren't working. stock at an all-time high. android operating system a runaway success. we really felt this was really his year to be number one. >> and i see tell us about the other big names on the list. i see ben jealous here, the president and ceo of the naacp and other interesting names. david, former chef from mamafuco restaurant group and other big names. >> you mentioned the big ones. also a lot of new, interesting discoveries. ceo of heineken in the u.s. he's 39, running the business here in the u.s., doing a turnaround. the president of an airline in india called indigo, and it's india's fastest growing, biggest airline by market share pap low-budget airline but it is the world's fastest growing aviation market. so this company's on fire. we have a relatively new kind of deputy lieutenant, warren

buffett on list, a woman named tracy britt, hired in 2009 to be his sort of financial assistant or financial kind of chief of staff type and she's really -- he's given her -- she's now chairman of two of his companies, helping pick a lot of hi ceos. she's fast on the rise. a lot of new, interesting people on the list. >> thank you. interesting list. appreciate t. thanks for having me. thanks. the oakland as celebrate after a thrill be ninth inning comeback and get to face one of baseball's best pitchers. mike rowe here at a ford dealer with a little q&a for fiona. tell me fiona, who's having a big tire event? your ford dealer. who has 11 major brands to choose from? your ford dealer. who's offering a rebate? your ford dealer. who has the low price tire guarantee... affording peace of mind to anyone who might be in the market for a new set of res? your ford dealer. i'm beginning to sense a pattern. buy four select tires, get a $60 rebate. use the ford service credit credit card, get $60 more. that's up to $120. where did you get that sweater vest? your ford dealer.

turning to sports. a quadruple header in baseball playoffs after late inning magic last night. starting at yankee stadium. alex rodriguez struggling at the plate this postseason. new york manager joe girardi, hitting for a-rod in the ninth. smack as homer to the game. and he's not done yet. bottom of the 12th. goes -- ibanez, yankees win 3-2.

new york leads the series 2-1. out to the left coast. the oakland a's facing elimination against detroit. oakland scores three runs in the bottom of the nine. cocoa kris, a hit, as tied add three. series decider tonight. another series in cincinnati. the giants dug themselves an 0-2 hole. now on even ground whip the reds. double cy young award winning tim had a horrible regular session, by his standards, but he came out of the bull pen to a few innings and the giants' bats woke up. three blasts left the park. final score was 8-3. the nation's capital hosted its first postseason baseball game since 1933. not a happy return. the st. louis cardinals pounded the nationals 8-0. rookie pete cos ma, a three-run

homer and coming back from surgery, stellar on the mound. cards have a 2-1 series lead. caught up in sports and the news. next hour of the "cnn newsroom" begins right now. stories we're watching right now in the "newsroom." 11 hours and counting. paul ryan, joe biden, getting ready for tonight's only vice presidential debate. what happens when a straight man starts telling everyone he's gay? and author's journey of walking in someone else's shoes. only a handful of people on earth have ever been where sunny williams has been and doing what he's doing. commanding nart space station and we're talking to her, live, excuse me in about 30 minutes. overwhelming evidence public about the alleged doping by seven-time tour de france winner lance armstrong. where's does the start go from here? the "newsroom" starts right now.

good morning, everybody. don lemon sitting in for carol costello this morning. the undercard of the title fight. now just 11 hours until the bell rings at the vice presidential debate. paul ryan trying to cheap new republican momentum alive and joe biden facing a formidable foe in himself, of course. most voters view him unfavorably according to a new poll from the pew center nap 51% compared to 39% who hold a favorable opinion. ryan better in both areas. 44% favorable compared to 40% unfavorable. dana bash sat down with paul ryan for an exclusive interview and dana joins us this morning. did he tell you how he prepared for tonight's one and only vice presidential debate? i'm sure he was meticulous? >> reporter: very meticulous, that is the perfect way to

describe how he described himself. a lot of reading. a lot of studying and, really, he's been doing it since just about the moment mitt romney picked him as the vice presidential running mate. he also has had those mock debates that we talked a lot about before the presidential debate. he has been doing those with ted olson who is the renowned solicitor general. he's a renowned litigator in the country. doing it in hotel rooms from oregon, to virginia, to florida, but i also asked him about whether or not his preparation included putting a phone call in to sarah palin to get some tips. >> the only other person to debate joe biden in a vice presidential debate is sarah palin. have you called her for advice? >> i haven't. only met her once about two years ago. >> would you? >> sure, sure. >> can i call you joe? >> you can call me joe. >> she famously, maybe infamously said that she wanted

to call him joe, because she kept calling him joe o'biden in debate. >> i know him as joe. he knows me as paul. i know him as joe, i haven't give didn't thought. probably not, unless he wants to make it casual, but we know each other. actually, we've gone the along quite well over the years. i like joe personally quite a bit. i just disagree with his policies. >> reporter: i don't think that you can discount the fact that they do know each other, don. a very different dynamic than president obama and mitt romney, who had only met each other a handful of times. ryan and biden worked together for years in congress. they've certainly dealt with each other, as ryan has been budget chair and biden has been vice president. and that is also going to sort of add to the dynamic that we're going to see that is different from last week in that they'll be sitting at a table kind of a talk show style, and so that combined with the personalities and their relationship is going to make for a very interesting back and forth between the two of them. >> oh, interesting to say the

least. i can't wait to watch this one. thank you, dana bash. joe biden also behind closed doors preparing for tonight's debate. what he had to say one week ago before launching his intensive debate camp. >> all debates are tough but i'm looking forward to it. what i've been doing mostly is, quite frankly, studying up on -- on congressman ryan's positions on the issues. and -- and -- and governor romney has embraced, at least everything i can see -- i don't want to say anything in the debate that's not completely accurate. >> well, there is one fact that both men can agree on. the stakes in this vice presidential debate are usually, are unusually high. but the race is still volatile and too close to call. any blunder, any blunder, to echo on the campaign trail the remaining 26 days before the election. so not surprisingly, both running mates are playing down the expectations for their guy.

>> i think joe just needs to be joe. congressman ryan is -- a smart and effective speaker, but his ideas are wrong ones, and joe understands that. >> this is, i think, paul's first debate. i may be wrong. he may have done something in high school i don't know, but it will be a new experience for paul, but i'm sure he'll do fine. >> joining us now to provide some perspective is larry, director of the center for politics at the university of virginia. good morning, larry. you know, conventional wisdom says people vote for president, not for vice president, but there is particular interest in this vice presidential debate, and more importance placed on it. why? >> well, first, don, the conventional wisdom is right. people don't vote for vice president, and my guess is they're not going to do it this year either, but it's still very important for two reasons. one the more general and compelling reason is that nine

vice-presidents in american history have become president without being elected to the office. they've succeeded to the office. so we the people ought to pay attention to who these people are running for vice president what they stand for, but i think the other reason is because of what happened in denver. the dud in denver for president obama. the pressure is greater here on joe biden, on vice president biden, and you know, it's a tough needle to thread for him. he doesn't want to be too aggressive. he doesn't want to be too low key, but he needs to restore some enthusiasm among some democrat whose were very unhappy with the president's performance. >> not just enthusiasm, larry. i mean, he needs to reverse some momentum. don't you think? and ryan merely has to maintain it. even if ryan does okay, he'll come off as, you know, doing great, because of -- you know, he's much younger than joe biden, hasn't been in the game as long as joe biden. so does biden walk into that

stage with a tougher challenge? >> yes i think biden has the tougher challenge tonight. he does have an advantage, though. as you've shown in your own poll there. people expect biden to lose, and ryan to do better. that's because of their view of joe biden. i think they might be surprised by biden, just it's a they were surprised by mitt romney's performance in denver. but, yeah. ryan simply has to maintain the momentum that was generated by his running mate, mitt romney. if he does reasonably well, if he holds his own, if he even tie, i think that will be a plus for the romney/ryan ticket. so the greater burden is on biden. he does have longer experience at this. certainly has done many more high profile debates and he'll need all the experience to do well. >> all right. again, i'm going to be watching. i know you will, and i would venture a guess this one may be rated higher than the presidential debate. thank you very much, larry.

appreciate it. >> thank you, don. so who has the most to lose at tonight's vice presidential debate? we'll pose that question to diane black, the republican representative from tennessee, when she joins us. remember, you can watch cnn's live coverage of tonight's vice presidential debate, 7:00 eastern it gets started. u.s. jobless claims hit a four-year low. applications for first-time unemployment benefits dropped sharply last week. about 339,000 people signed up. that's 30,000 fewer than a week before. and the lowest level since february of 2008. no support. that's what a former state department security officer told lawmakers he got after asking for more help at the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. the comments come as part of a congressional investigation of the terror attack. the deadly attack first blamed on the anti-islam video and lawmakers went after that claim.

>> when i was in libya, good part of the day, never once did a person ever mention a video. never. and i am fascinated to know and understand from the president of the united states, from the secretary of state and the ambassador to the united nations how they can justify that this video caused this attack. it was a terrorist attack. let's be honest about it. >> i certainly hope that today's hearing is not going to be perceived as an effort to exploit a tragedy for political purposes 27 days out from an election. i hope, in fact it is the down payment of a serious inquiry into how can we make this kind of thing not recur? >> september 11th, the attack in libya took the lives of u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. foreign affairs reporter elise joins us now from

washington. man, that was a heated exchange just one, well, two, one from each. very heated. but, listen, the concern here is too much politicalization of this, and not getting to the bottom of it. i think people may be turned off by that if they see too much of it. was there too much grandstanding, do you think? >> for my taste, don. i mean, there were a lot of important issues that needed to be addressed and a lot of important questions were asked, but some of us watching felt that it was more like kind of l.a. law than it was an oversight hearing trying to get to the bottom of what happened and more importantly how it could be prevented again. some of the important things that did come out, though. i mean, this eric nordstrom, top u.s. security expert in libya months before the attack said, a request for additional security, that he made to the state department were denied. so that's an important thing to

note. the state department official charlene lamb, who was there, she acknowledged that she did, but what she also said and the state department says, look, we were outmanned that day. no amount of reasonable security could have prevented that attack. it was 40 men that stormed the embassy. a real unprecedented type of attack, but, you know, there was some politics in there, but also a good point that, you know, some of the democrats made, that republicans are responsible for some of the cuts to embassy security over the years. i mean, the state department is being asked to do more with less at 270 posts around the world, and the republican controlled house over the last few years has been responsible for some of that cut in funding. let's take a listen to what eric nordstrom, the top u.s. security official said about the frustrations he was having in trying to get these additional resources. >> when i requested assets instead of is a are the

positiving those assets i was criticized and somehow it was my sfont come up with a plan on the ground and not the responsibility for d.s. i raised that specific point in the a meeting with the d.s. director in march. that 60 days there was no plan. and it was hope that everything would get better. >> and, don what he was saying, he felt there weren't going to get additional money until there wa some kind of attack. even as resources were going down, his danger pay was going up. obviously, state department recognized it was a danger post. question is, why didn't they provide that extra security, don? >> big question. thank you very much. for the first time a commercial cargo ship delivers supplies to the international space station in helping bring it in, in the station is commander sunny williams. we'll talk to ter, live. so... [ gasps ]

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tonight the center of the political universe will move far away from washington to right here. danville, kentucky, where vice presidential joe biden and

congressman paul ryan square off in a high stakes debate. high stakes. the recent poll shows the challenger with a solid advantage as 55% of likely voters say ryan will win the big showdown compared to 39% for biden. joining me now, both from new york, cnn contributors roland martin and will caine. first to you, will. biden, undo the damage from last week the performance, or ryan, because he has to appear presidential and keep the momentum doing? >> it's biden. he has the biggest challenge because he has a little tonal tightrope to walk. he's got to make up, as you said, what seem like a lack of aggressiveness against mitt romney last week. i think he'll try to do that. come out strong, be aggressive, but can't come off as overly aggressive. four years ago, joe biden, can't be overly aggressive, can't attack sarah palin a woman. he's a little unleashed, expectations of aggressiveness. careful not to overdo it.

that doesn't play well against a man or a woman. >> okay. roland, do you have anything to say about that? >> yeah. bottom line is, i think we need to stop this game of, well who has more to lose, more to win. let's put this in perspective for the american people. we are going to see a debate between two people. one of them will be one heartbeat away from the presidency. and so we need to see strong performances. strong content from both of them. and so obviously, vice president joe biden has to make up for what took place last week in terms of being able to lay out a critical inherent plan but i don't think you can can be over aggressive if somebody lying. it's his job to correct him in paul ryan is saying things that aren't true. also, foreign policy will be a part of this debate as opposed to last week, just domestic policy. >> and joe biden has the edge on that just from experience, but i mean, roland, even when

debating, in high school or a junior high school debate club, there is a winner and loser. that's, and in vice presidential and presidential debates, there is a winner and a loser. >> sure. >> it's about who performs better. >> also, let's break down how we define winning. are we defining winning based upon a performance, who acted well, or defines winning based upon what they had to say? bottom line is, so, again, we can base it upon performance. will and i talked about this. so much is style over substance. people say they want substance but also love to vote on style. again, you're going to see a different tone this week and i think that vice president biden is going to be very aggressive. forget overly. aggressive going up against ryan and ryan will return the fire because they understand the stakes. i just want to say -- >> i don't have time. we're running out of time here, but i think whoever defines, how do we define winning and losing? actually defined by the poll numbers. it clearly shows momentum on the

republican side. >> but we also define it by the spin data as well. >> let's talk more about polls. how i brought the poll numbers up. so many flying around. hard to know what exactly to believe about the state of the race. take a look at jon stewart on "the daily show." >> the presidential race has tinted considerably. how do i know? >> a new poll from the pew research center. >> gallup poll. >> abc news "washington post" toll. >> maris college poll. >> the 7-eleven metric, you get a red cup for the republican, a blue cup for the democrat. >> of course, this is one small problem, though. this data coming in. has a tendency to contradict itself. just yesterday obama was simultaneously up by four, down by two and tied with mitt romney. >> will, you know, he does have a point.

many of us think the same thing about polls. what do believe what not to believe. i tell you one thing i noticed when romney's down, the republicans say the polls are fixed. they don't believe it. when obama's down, democrats say the polls are firsted, they don't believe it. look, how much stock should we put in polls? >> one of the fews things roland and i have an actual agreement on. the limited value of pollsof turns an election into a football game, count the score midway through the game. one score, how the vote turns out at the end. until then a choice to make between two different sefts ideas. this polltaking is a tip to make it entertaining along the way. >> offers a snapshot, does it not, roland? constantly moving? >> guess what, the snap of the picture has blown right past us. the key for both campaigns is what is going to be turnout? driving their people to the polls. the real analysis what are the numbers for early voting in the places that have already started. that's going to be a real measurement. i don't -- i don't lose sleep over who's up, who's down, because at the end of the day,

not a single person has ever been elected based upon a poll. get your people out to vote if you want to win an election. >> the only polls that matter, the ones you have to get people to get to do vote. watch the vice presidential debate tonight, 7:00 eastern. a new report says lance armstrong and 11 ex-teammates, the drug testing system. releasing overwhelming evidence against armstrong. embarrassed about my skin.g [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel®, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections.

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lance armstrong now faces the biggest hit to his cycling reputation yet. a 1,000-page report putting armstrong at the center avenue massive doping scheme. here are cnn casey wian. >> reporter: the united states anti-doping agency has released what it calls overwhelming evidence that seven-time tour de france winner lance armstrong "doped throughout the majority of his professional cycling career." in august the agency banned armstrong from competition for life. now it's releasing more than 1,000 pages of evidence and sworn statements by 26 people

including 11 of armstrong's former teammates. the u.s. ada called it the most sophisticated professional igzed and successful doping program that the sport has ever seen. >> the black sox standal in baseball. seminal for cycling and sports, enhancing doping in sport. >> reporter: former armstrong several teammates admitted their own histories and vowed to clean up the sport. armstrong repeatedly denied doping and his image survives the scandal largely intact. kept endorsements with nike and anheuser-busch. the charity he founded 15 years ago, raised nearly half a billion dollars to fight cancer. a disease armstrong himself has beaten. >> he's done amazing things for people with cancer. he's given a lot of people hope in this world. and to many millions of americans and people around the world, lance armstrong will always be a hero.

and none of these allegations are ever going to change that. >> armstrong's attorney called usada's report a one-sided hatchet job, a tabloid piece rehashing old disproved unreliable allegations based largely on ax grinders, serial purgers, sweetheart deals and threat-induced stories. back in february the u.s. attorney here in los angeles abruptly closed a two-year criminal fraud investigation into armstrong's alleged doping program. we asked the u.s. attorney's office if these newly released documents could reopen that criminal investigation. a spokesman declined to comment. casey wian, cnn, los angeles. all right, casey. and a little less than 11 hours, the vice presidential candidates will have their first and only debate. next we're going to hear from representative diane black about what paul ryan has in store for joe biden.

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check your top stories now. beefing up security for u.s. officials in libya was necessary but hard to do. a former state department security officer told a house panel that. state department officials admitted there's no fail safe way to protect diplomats overseas but they also describe reids of red tape that block their way to key preparation resources. this on capitol hill, the september 191th attack in benghazi that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other american. and wooding 32 others in fort hood, texas back in court appealing a ruling major has

nidal hasan must shave. his muslim faith requires him to keep the beard, he says. and a key affirmative action case. a texas woman suing the university of texas claiming it rejected her application because she is white. justice roberts pressed them on how the school decides if its student body is diverse enough. roberts is the a member of the court's conservative majority. the president said race is one of many factor used in admissions and its policy is aligned with the supreme court's 2003 affirmative action ruling. a decision in the texas case is expected next year. it is a showdown in danville. vice president joe biden meets his challenger, republican paul ryan, the first and only vp debate of the whole season's new polling data out looking pretty good for paul ryan. showing paul ryan ahead in favorability and vice president joe biden behind with a 51%

unfavorability rating. unfavorable rating. last night president obama spoke to abc's diane sawyer and he had this to say about the debate. >> i think joe just needs to be joe. congressman ryan is -- is a -- a smart and effective speaker, but his ideas are the wrong ones, and joe understands that. >> the president is not downplaying expectations like everyone else seems to be doing. last hour we talked with the co-chair of the obama campaign to get their take. now bringing in republican representative from tennessee diane black. she joins me now from danville, kentucky. good morning to you. >> good morning, don. it's great to be with you this morning. >> great to be with you. great to have you here as well. so the president thinks joe biden has nothing to worry about. is he right? >> well, i think that paul ryan is going to shine tonight. i've known paul ryan now for the

last two years, would go with him on budget and ways and means, and he is just a really smart guy. he's articulate and i think he's going to shine tonight. >> yeah. you know, as you said, budget issues, very good with numbers. that's what folks in washington say. this one is about foreign policy. do you think he's up to the challenge with joe biden on foreign policy? after all, joe biden has been, you know, doing this forever. >> you know, i don't have any doubts at all. i'm 100% confident that paul has studied the issue. he obviously has been in congress for many years and knows much about foreign relations. it's not one that normally national security, it's not one you normally hear him talk about, but paul is really a smart man and she going to be on his game with all of the issues tonight. >> okay. so, you know, this new poll shows that ryan is -- up. president obama was up before his debate last week, too, so -- what do you make of that? >> well, i think it's yet to be seen tonight, but as i continue to say, paul ryan having worked

with him on budget and ways and means, and been in budget where i've seen him take on people like geithner and bernanke, he does well. handles himself well. there won't be an exception to that tonight there has been criticism he can get shaken easily. listen to this. >> there's been a traditional democrat and republican consensus lowering tax rates, broadening the tax base works and you can -- >> but i have to -- haven't given me the math. >> well, i don't have the time -- it would take me too long to go through all of the math. >> okay. then that went on, that back and forth went on and it's happened a couple of times. you know, listen, joe biden has a very sharp tongue and a very quick wit. so do you think there's a chance here, obviously there's a chance he can get shaken. i think i know what your answer is. >> well, you know, when you're in front of the camera and in front of a camera that's going to be going out to millions of people listening, obviously, there may be some times where

you just don't come off kwift as good as you do in a committee meeting, but, listen, paul ryan is, he is -- he's a sharp guy, and i know that he has looked at all of these issues and he'll be ready for tonight. i have 100% confidence in that. >> recently ryan has not been consistent on his stance on abortion, basically flip-flopping on abortion. moving to the middle, becoming more moderate late in the game. paul ryan is known for being very conservative. is this a problem for him in the debate, if someone brings up that particular issue? or if joe biden brings it up and says, well, your side is flip-flopping here. >> well, i think that paul ryan has made it known very clearly about where he stands on the issue of life. and i think that paul will speak to how he has always spoken about life being precious, both born and unborn. and he will, if questioned, i'm sure handle the situation as far

as his differences, or maybe a little bit of a difference on how he and mitt romney look at the situation, and so i believe that paul will handle this just really well, as he has every other topic. >> you know, the way he's answered that question is that, that is decided by the top of the ticket. i'm not the top of the ticket, and basically he doesn't really answer the question when it comes to abortion. >> well, i think that paul has handled that now. maybe in some of the interviews that you can cite, you may cite that, but i have seen him on other interviews talking how he personally stands and how maybe there is a minor difference, a very, very minor difference between he and mitt romney. >> die an black, thank you very much. i appreciate you joining us this morning. have a great day. okay? >> you do the same. thank you so much. make sure you catch cnn's coverage of the live vice presidential debate beginning at 7:00 eastern. a half ton of fresh supplies

parked at the international space station delivered by the first-ever commercial cargo ship. we're here to talk with the station's commander suni williams. live. that's her getting ready. look at the live pictures. amazing we can do this as she pass oefbser europe and asia. gats going to happen next. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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so excited right now. you have to watch this. look at that behind me. that's space. live to space now. very happy crew members in the international space station this morning. yesterday they successfully captured the first commercial cargo ship to deliver supplies to the station onboard the dragon spacecraft 1,000 pounds of supplies, clothing, science experiments and much more. space station commander, suni williams, helped to slap the dragon and joins us now live from the international space

station. suni, an honor to talk to you. really a special treat. also, i understand some ice cream arrived for you guys as well? >> yeah. we had a special treat yesterday, not only did we get the dragon but we also got a whole bunch of ice cream desserts ready for us. >> i have to ask you, when i see you there, look at that! that's pretty cool. when i see you there, did you ever imagine in a million years when you were a child, and even growing up, you would be doing what you're doing now in space at the international space station? >> no. you know, it never crossed my mind i would ever be an astronaut. never met an astronaut, never knew an astronaut, but after being a professional pilot and test pilot i finally met some people who were astronauts and understood, thought to myself, hey, maybe i could do that

because it looks like a whole lot of fun. >> it does look like a whole lot of fun. you know, i keep looking over. a bigger monitor here, and i'm warranting to look at you. the dragon spacecraft marks the beginning of really new evolution for space flight. private companies now taking over the work that governments did before. what do you make of that? is that helpful to the program? >> absolutely. you know, a little competition is really good, because it makes people a little bit better at what they're doing, and now that we have commercial spacecraft coming up here to do the resupply, nasa can actually concentrate on other stuff going beyond lower the orbit, making a big trobt potentially get us back to the moon, on to mars, more into exploration. so, yeah, commercial companies coming up to the international space station i think is a great idea. >> uh-huh. we talked to you, you said never in a million years would you imagine you would be doing this. you wanted to be a veterinarian.

only a handful of people can say they have been the commander of a space station. you're a woman. that is definitely an accomplishment. what is that like to you? is there a mentor or a hero that you have that you aspire to be like? what is that like for you? >> you know, it's a little humbling, because i don't really think of that stuff too much in that context. i think i just think of it as doing my job and there's definitely people ahead of us who have paved the way, of course. the late sally ride, peggy whitson, chief of our office was also space station commander. so really great people out there who have, you know, been there, done that, and made it look easy, and so made the, opened the doors for all the rest of us to just jump in there and say, i can do that, too. so i think it's more of, you just do your best that you can do. hopefully you'll become a role model for somebody else who

says, oh, i'm like that person. i understand that person. i could be just like them and do the same things that they're doing. >> okay. so i understand we only have about 20 seconds left before the satellite goes out. so, listen, people may not know that you still get to vote in the election. so i'm sure you're going to vote. and what's the favorite ice cream flavor? which have you been eating? >> yeah. i voted early. voted because i'm a military guy, and, of course, vanilla. good, old-fashioned vanilla is my favorite because then you can add things to it. >> suni williams, we joked before. i loved the hairdo. you could be one of my relatives. a little of a grow going there in space. take it easy, be safer and we're very proud of you. okay? a straight christian conservative comes out to see how it would be to walk in the shoes of a lesbian friend. we're going to talk with the

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vo: why won't romney level with us about his tax plan, which gives the wealthy huge new tax breaks? because according to experts, he'd have to raise taxes on the middle class - or increase the deficit to pay for it. if we can't trust him here... how could we ever trust him here? ♪ ♪ hi dad. many years from now, when the subaru is theirs... hey. you missed a spot. ...i'll look back on this day and laugh. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's.

it's amazing what soup can do. today is national coming out day, and we want to talk to a man who came out but only as an experiment. because he's actually straight. his name is tim cureic. wrote about his experience in a book called "the cross in the closet" joining me from seattle. thank you so much for joining us. may i call you tim? >> yeah. that's great, don. >> so you are a christian conservative. what motivated you to explore life as a gay man? why did you do this? >> i had a friend come out of the closet and she was pretty brutally disowned by her family. and my reaction wasn't much more loving than theirs. so at that point i had this kind of epiphany moment that the only way i could question what i had been taught and question if i had done the right thing was to experience it for myself firsthand.

experience the fear of coming out. the apprehension. >> that old saying, walk a mile in someone else's shoes. you have no idea until you do it. >> absolutely. >> so she came out and you had a negative reaction to it. >> correct. >> okay. so then -- >> i write about that -- go ahead. >> you write about that, what? >> i wrote about that in the first chapter of "the cross in the closet"'s innocent for everything else that followed. >> how did you do it? you told people, and -- did all of them believe you? >> well, for the most part, i mean, i had -- i came out to everybody. i did have a pretend boyfriend. my one gay friend agreed to become my foe boyfriend for a year. he became my yoda. my teacher. taught me the nuances of how to act and what not to be offended by, and you know, how flirtation in the gay community is different from straight community. >> what did you learn? >> he helped me.

>> what do you learn about the struggles? coming out. what did this teach you? >> i think the biggest thing, especially with it being coming out day, it takes a lot of courage. we think we live in a society that is so accepting and so progressive, but in reality, we really don't. when you face the -- that moment in your life as an lgbt individual and you're coming out of the closet, you're risking everything. when that happens, you know when that happened to me, when i realized, you know, hey, i've got to stand in front of my family. i don't know if i'm going to be rejected or not. i don't know what my friends are going to say, what my church is going to say. it was a real eye-opening experience for me. >> what did this teach you about your faith? more importantly, did this teach you anything about -- because straight people will say, why do gay people feel the need to come out or they have to declare their sexuality? what do you say about that? >> i would say that straight people need to put themselves in the shoes of the people that they are making these

assumptions about. understand that it's all really about being honest with yourself and honest with the people around you. you know, and being free. and i -- definitely now applaud all of those people, especially today, that are going to be making that step and being honest about who they are. >> tim cureic, a straight man who came out as gay and wrote a book about it. you did it for about a year. thank you. appreciate it. >> thank you, don. joe biden has ridden amtrak from his home in delaware to washington almost 8,000 times. paul ryan wants to cut funding for amamtrak, up next, how trai can figure into tonight's vp debate. ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪

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amtrak ridership at an all-time high. 30 million people rode the rails na last year including vice presidented by hoon for decades used it to get from him home in delaware to washington. paul ryan and mitt romney want to cut spending for it. a closer look now. ♪ i love to groove to the music tap out a beat ♪

>> reporter: big bird is getting all the attention but team romney has bigger thargts get more troll money. >> we subsidize thing likes amtrak. we have to stop doing that. >> reporter: amtrak gets roughly $1.4 billion a year in federal subsidies. three times more than pbs. this issue is putting vice presidential candidates paul ryan and joe biden on different tracks when it comes to funding for the rails. >> i'm the biggest railroad guy you ever knew. >> reporter: biden made more than 7,900 trips from wilmington, delaware to washington, d.c. during his time on capitol hill. the station in his home state rename afrd him last year. [ cheers and applause ] and in 2009, the newly elected democrats rode the rails into washington, d.c. for their inauguration. ryan's budget plan cuts federal subsidies for amtrak and high-speed rail projects. republicans favor privatizing the industry instead.

>> the path to prosperity is not through solar shingles and high-speed trains. >> reporter: funding amtrak and investing in high-speed rail projects are key priorities for president obama. ridership is at an all-time high for amtrak. more than 30 million passengers rode the rails last year and the busiest one, the line between washington, d.c. and new york city. more than three times as many passengers rode that line than those who decided to fly. >> we need the fastest, most reliable ways to move people, goods and information. from high-speed rail to high-speed internet. >> reporter: federal money for passenger train has been up for debate before and critics say in this economy, it's a ripe target. >> how forceful will paw paul ryan be against this issue? >> extremely forceful. you're going to have to deal with all the expenditures we make, which are the most efficient, which are the least efficient? and amtrak amongst the least and high-speed rail not sustainable.

>> reporter: advocates say despite the tough talk, amtrak has always survived. >> some really basic factors driving the love for trains that is going to be difficult for any candidate to ignore. >> reporter: regardless of which side of the aisle voters are on, expect a debate night collision. sandra endo, cnn, washington. watch the debate, starts at 7:00 p.m. here on cnn. into showbiz, grap your cowboy hat. nominees announced for the american country music awards. luke brian in the lead with seven nominations. lady antebellum and zac brown band behind with six nominations each. the awards air on december 10th. i'm don lemon. thank you so much for joining us. the "cnn newsroom" with ashlee banfield continues right after a quick break. have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the

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